26 Tex. Admin. Code § 747.123 - What do certain words and terms mean when used in this chapter?
The words and terms used in this chapter have the meanings assigned to them under § 745.21 of this title (relating to What do the following words and terms mean when used in this chapter?), unless another meaning is assigned in this section or another subchapter or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, the following words and terms used in this chapter have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Activity
plan--A written plan that outlines the daily routine and activities in which a
group of children will engage while in your care. The plan is designed to meet
the children's cognitive, social, language, emotional, and physical
developmental strengths and needs.
(2) Activity space--An area or room used for
children's activities.
(3)
Administrative and clerical duties--Duties that involve the operation of a
child-care home, such as bookkeeping, enrolling children, answering the
telephone, and collecting fees.
(4)
Admission--The process of enrolling a child in a child-care home. The date of
admission is the first day the child is physically present in the
home.
(5) Adult--A person 18 years
old and older.
(6) After-school
hours--Hours before and after school, and days when school is not in session,
such as school holidays, summer vacations, and teacher in-service
days.
(7)
Age-appropriate--Activities, equipment, materials, curriculum, and environment
that are developmentally consistent with the developmental or chronological age
of the child being served.
(8)
Attendance--When referring to a child's attendance, the physical presence of a
child at the child-care home on any given day or at any given time, as distinct
from the child's enrollment in the child-care home.
(9) Body of water--As defined by Texas Health
and Safety Code, Chapter 341, Subchapter D (relating to Sanitation and Safety
of Facilities Used by Public).
(10)
Bouncer seat--A stationary seat designed to provide gentle rocking or bouncing
motion by an infant's movement or by battery-operated movement. This type of
equipment is designed for an infant's use from birth until the child can sit up
unassisted.
(11) Caregiver--A
person who is counted in the child to caregiver ratio, whose duties include the
supervision, guidance, and protection of a child. As used in this chapter, a
caregiver must meet the minimum education, work experience, and training
qualifications required under Subchapter D of this chapter (relating to
Personnel).
(12) Certified
Child-Care Professional Credential--A credential given by the National Early
Childhood Program Accreditation to a person working directly with children. The
credential is based on assessed competency in several areas of child care and
child development.
(13) Certified
lifeguard--A person who has been trained in life saving and water safety by a
qualified instructor, from a recognized organization that awards a certificate
upon successful completion of the training. The certificate is not required to
use the term "lifeguard," but you must be able to document that the certificate
is current, relevant to the type of water activity in which children will
engage, and representative of the type of training described.
(14) CEUs--Continuing education units. A
standard unit of measure for adult education and training activities. One CEU
equals 10 clock hours of participation in an organized, continuing-education
experience, under responsible, qualified direction and instruction. Although a
person may obtain a CEU in many of the same settings as clock hours, the CEU
provider must meet the criteria established by the International Association
for Continuing Education and Training to be able to offer the CEU.
(15) Child--An infant, a toddler, a
pre-kindergarten age child, or a school-age child.
(16) Child-care home--A registered or
licensed child-care home, as specified in §
747.113 of this chapter (relating
to What is a registered child-care home?) or §
747.115 of this chapter (relating
to What is a licensed child-care home?). This term includes the program, home,
grounds, furnishings, and equipment.
(17) Child-care program--The services and
activities provided by a child-care home.
(18) Child Development Associate
Credential--A credential given by the Council for Professional Recognition to a
person working directly with children. The credential is based on assessed
competency in several areas of child care and child development.
(19) Clock hour--An actual hour of
documented:
(A) Attendance at instructor-led
training, such as seminars, workshops, conferences, early childhood classes,
and other planned learning opportunities, provided by an individual or
individuals as specified in §
747.1315(a) of
this chapter (relating to Must child-care training meet certain criteria?);
or
(B) Self-instructional training
that was created by an individual or individuals, as specified in §
747.1315(a) and
(b) of this chapter, or self-study
training.
(20) Corporal
punishment--The infliction of physical pain on a child as a means of
controlling behavior. This includes spanking, hitting with a hand or
instrument, slapping, pinching, shaking, biting, or thumping a child.
(21) Days--Calendar days, unless otherwise
stated.
(22) Employee--An assistant
caregiver, substitute caregiver, or any other person a child-care home employs
full-time or part-time to work for wages, salary, or other compensation,
including kitchen staff, office staff, maintenance staff, or anyone hired to
transport a child.
(23)
Enrollment--The list of names or number of children who have been admitted to
attend a child-care home for any given period of time; the number of children
enrolled in a child-care home may vary from the number of children in
attendance on any given day.
(24)
Entrap--A component or group of components on equipment that forms angles or
openings that may trap a child's head by being too small to allow the child's
body to pass through, or large enough for the child's body to pass through but
too small to allow the child's head to pass through.
(25) Field trips--Activities conducted away
from the child-care home.
(26) Food
service--The preparation or serving of meals or snacks.
(27) Frequent--More than two times in a
30-day period. Note: For the definition of "regularly or frequently present at
an operation" (child-care home) as it applies to background checks, see §
745.601 of this title (relating to
What words must I know to understand this subchapter?).
(28) Garbage--Waste food or items that when
deteriorating cause offensive odors and attract rodents, insects, and other
pests.
(29) Grounds-- Includes any
parcel of land where the home of the primary caregiver is located and any
building, other structure, body of water, play equipment, street, sidewalk,
walkway, driveway, parking garage, or parking lot on the parcel. Also referred
to as "premises" in this chapter.
(30) Group activities--Activities that allow
children to interact with other children in large or small groups. Group
activities include storytelling, finger plays, show and tell, organized games,
and singing.
(31) Hazardous
materials--Any substance or chemical that is a health hazard or physical
hazard, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. Also referred to
as "toxic materials" and "toxic chemicals" in this chapter.
(32) Health check--A visual or physical
assessment of a child to identify potential concerns about a child's health,
including signs or symptoms of illness and injury, in response to changes in
the child's behavior since the last date of attendance.
(33) Health-care professional--A licensed
physician, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), a licensed
vocational nurse (LVN), a licensed registered nurse (RN), or other licensed
medical personnel providing health care to the child within the scope of the
license. This does not include physicians, nurses, or other medical personnel
who are not licensed in the United States or in the country in which the person
practices.
(34) High school
equivalent--
(A) Documentation of a program
recognized by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or other public educational
entity in another state, which offers similar training on reading, writing, and
math skills taught at the high school level, such as a General Educational
Development (GED) certificate; or
(B) Confirmation that the person received
home-schooling that adequately addressed basic competencies such as basic
reading, writing, and math skills, which would otherwise have been documented
by a high school diploma.
(35) Individual activities--Opportunities for
the child to work independently or to be away from the group but
supervised.
(36) Infant--A child
from birth through 17 months.
(37)
Inflatable--An amusement ride or device, consisting of air-filled structures
designed for use by children, as specified by the manufacturer, which may
include bouncing, climbing, sliding, or interactive play. They are made of
flexible fabric, kept inflated by continuous air flow by one or more blowers,
and rely upon air pressure to maintain their shape.
(38) Instructor-led training--Training
characterized by the communication and interaction that takes place between the
student and the instructor. The training must include an opportunity for the
student to interact with the instructor to obtain clarifications and
information beyond the scope of the training materials. For such an opportunity
to exist, the instructor must communicate with the student in a timely fashion,
including answering questions, providing feedback on skills practice, providing
guidance or information on additional resources, and proactively interacting
with students. Examples of this type of training include classroom training,
web-based online facilitated learning, video-conferencing, or other group
learning experiences.
(39)
Janitorial duties--Those duties that involve the cleaning and maintenance of
the child-care home, building, rooms, furniture, etc. Cleaning and maintenance
include such duties as cleansing carpets, washing cots, and sweeping,
vacuuming, or mopping a restroom or a classroom. Sweeping up after an activity
or mopping up a spill in a classroom that is immediately necessary for the
children's safety is not considered a janitorial duty.
(40) Natural environment--Settings that are
natural or typical for all children of the same age without regard to ability
or disability. For example, a natural environment for learning social skills is
a play group of peers.
(41) Permit
is no longer valid--For purposes of this chapter, a permit remains valid
through the renewal process. A permit only becomes invalid when your:
(A) Home voluntarily closes;
(B) Home must close because of an enforcement
action in Chapter 745, Subchapter L of this title (relating to Enforcement
Actions);
(C) Permit expires
according to §
745.481 of this title (relating to
When does my permit expire?); or
(D) Home must close because its permit is
automatically revoked according to the Human Resources Code §§
42.048(e),
42.052(i),
or
42.054(f).
(42) Personal flotation device
(PFD)--A United States Coast Guard approved life jacket.
(43) Physical activity (moderate)--Levels of
activity for a child that are at intensities faster than a slow walk, but still
allow the child to talk easily. Moderate physical activity increases the
child's heart rate and breathing rate.
(44) Physical activity (vigorous)--Rhythmic,
repetitive physical movement for a child that uses large muscle groups, causing
the child to breathe rapidly and only enabling the child to speak in short
phrases. Typically, the child's heart rate is substantially increased, and the
child is likely to be sweating while engaging in vigorous physical
activity.
(45) Pre-kindergarten age
child--A child who is three or four years of age before the beginning of the
current school year.
(46)
Premises--See the term "grounds" and its definition in this section.
(47) Regular--On a recurring, scheduled
basis. Note: For the definition of "regularly or frequently present at an
operation" (child-care home) as it applies to background checks, see §
745.601 of this title.
(48) Restrictive device--Equipment that
places the body of a child in a position that may restrict airflow or cause
strangulation; usually, the child is placed in a semi-seated position. Examples
of restrictive devices are car seats, swings, bouncy seats, and high
chairs.
(49) Safety belt--A lap
belt and any shoulder straps included as original equipment on or added to a
vehicle.
(50) Sanitize--The use of
a disinfecting product that provides instructions specific for sanitizing and
is registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to substantially
reduce germs on inanimate objects to levels considered safe by public health
requirements. Many bleach and hydrogen peroxide products are EPA-registered.
You must follow the product's labelling instructions for sanitizing or
disinfecting, depending on the surface (paying particular attention to any
instructions regarding contact time and toxicity on surfaces likely to be
mouthed by children, such as toys and crib rails). If you use bleach instead of
an approved disinfecting product, you must follow these steps in order:
(A) Washing with water and soap;
(B) Rinsing with clear water;
(C) Soaking in or spraying on a bleach
solution for at least two minutes;
(D) Rinsing with cool water only those items
that children are likely to place in their mouths; and
(E) Allowing the surface or item to
air-dry.
(51) School-age
child--A child who is five years of age and older and is enrolled in or has
completed kindergarten.
(52) Screen
time activity--An activity during which a child views media content on a cell
or mobile phone, tablet, computer, television, video, film, or DVD. Screen time
activities do not include video chatting with a child's family or assistive and
adaptive computer technology used by a child with special care needs on a
consistent basis.
(53)
Self-instructional training--Training designed to be used by one individual
working alone and at the individual's own pace to complete lessons or modules.
Lessons or modules commonly include questions with clear right and wrong
answers. An example of this type of training is web-based training. Self-study
training is also a type of self-instructional training.
(54) Self-study training--Non-standardized
training where an individual reads written materials, watches a training video,
or listens to a recording to obtain certain knowledge that is required for
annual training. Self-study training is limited to three hours of annual
training per year.
(55) Special
care needs--A child with special care needs is a child who has:
(A) A chronic physical, developmental,
behavioral, or emotional condition or a disability and who also requires
assistance beyond that required by a child generally to perform tasks that are
within the typical chronological range of development, including the movement
of large or small muscles, learning, talking, communicating, comprehension,
emotional regulation, self-help, social skills, emotional well-being, seeing,
hearing, and breathing; or
(B) A
limitation due to an injury, illness, or allergy.
(56) State or local fire authority--A fire
official who is authorized to conduct fire safety inspections on behalf of the
city, county, or state government, including certified fire inspectors. Also
referred to as "fire marshal" in this chapter.
(57) Swimming Pool--An artificial body of
water with a water depth of more than 18 inches that is maintained or used
expressly for public or private recreational purposes, swimming, diving,
aquatic sports or activities, or therapeutic purposes.
(58) Toddler--A child from 18 months through
35 months.
(59) Universal
precautions--An approach to infection control where all human blood and certain
human bodily fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for HIV, HBV, and
other blood-borne pathogens.
(60)
Wading pool--As defined by Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 341,
Subchapter D.
(61) Water
activities--Related to the use of swimming pools, wading pools, or sprinkler
play.
(62) Weather
permitting--Weather conditions that do not pose any concerns for health and
safety such as significant risk of frostbite or heat-related illness. This
includes adverse weather conditions in which children may still play safely
outdoors for shorter periods with appropriate adjustments to clothing and any
necessary access to water, shade, or shelter.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.